Over a quarter of UK households that are home to children under four experienced food insecurity in January, a new study has revealed.

These figures come as newly published data shows Healthy Start uptake is currently at 64%, falling short of the NHS target set for March 2023.

The new study by the Food Foundation has found that food insecurity rates are higher in households with children under the age of four than those with only school-age children or no children at all.

The study revealed that 27% of UK households home to children under the age of four experienced food insecurity in January.

In the same month, food insecurity was experienced by 23% of households with school-age children (5-17 years) and 15% of households without children.

The Food Foundation said these figures were ‘especially concerning’ because of the low uptake of Healthy Start, the Government’s benefits scheme targeted at families with children under the age of four and pregnant mothers on very low incomes, as well as all pregnant teenagers below 18 years of age.

The NHS BSA, which operates the scheme on behalf of the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), has missed its target of 75% uptake for Healthy Start, with only 64% of eligible parents and carers on average accessing the scheme across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Anna Taylor, executive director of The Food Foundation, said: ‘Debilitating food price rises are making it incredibly challenging for low-income young families to afford a healthy diet. This is extremely concerning given how important good nutrition is for young children’s growth and development.

‘Healthy Start is a highly-targeted scheme that should be helping families most in need, but pitifully low uptake levels mean there are families all over the country who are missing out on this statutory scheme.

‘Much more needs to be done by Government to make sure uptake improves – implementing the recommendations set out in the National Food Strategy is a good place to start.’